Chapter 1 Backward Design

Curriculum is designed by teachers to accomplish a main goal, make students to learn in an effective way. We as teachers may take advantage of all the means at hand. Eventhough, we are guided by a national or institutional specific standards. We have to be aware of our students needs and motivations; and other factors that may influence in the curricula design.

A good curriculum design takes in cosideration the results we want to get from our students, not just the means we are going to use to accomplish any goal.

Think Backward

When we start the process of "backward design", we most have some things in consideration before; we have to know students specific and desire learning, evidence of the learning, last what are we going to do, aka activities.

When we think backward, we see the big picture, the goals; and then we start seing the smaller features to get the real deal, understanding. Which specific understanding are we after?, How to get this understanding? and Which activities are going to use to accomplish students understanding? These are some of the questions we have to reflect on and answer before planning.

Many teachers focus on the teaching not the learning. The important thing is to ask ourselves, What our students need to accomplish learning goals? and, Why are we asking students to do this particular activity?. We have to be explicit on the answers to get a clear objective for our curriculum.

Twin Sins

This part of the chapter is focus in two different teaching approaches. Activity- oriented curricula does not have an explicit focus on important ideas and appropriate evidence of learning. The activity is not the learning, students have to think on the meaning of the activity.

Coverage-oriented is just going through a text book, which covers the content but does not focus its importance for the students. 

Students will not know what they have learned, and teachers will be unable to answer if understanding takes place through activity-oriented or covered approaches. So, the proposal is to design from learning and its goals.

Stages of Backward Design

 • Identify desired results: Setting curriculum goals.

• Determine acceptable evidence: To document and validate that learning has been achieved by students.

• Plan learning experience and instruction : Teachers and planners  have to "think like an assessor".

And interesting point in this Chapter is to think about how to assess before knowing how are we going to teach what we are going to teach. In a way to understand the goal before the process. 

 For teachers thinking design backward may be an awkward and unnatural, time consuming and stressful process.